Hi! Rescuing mistreated pond in new home.

[adenphoto]

Hi,

Would like to introduce myself , my name is Aden and I come from the flatlands of Lincolnshire Ive been a pond keeper for many years but all natural ponds with a few goldfish

Recently my girlfriend purchased her first home and it happens to have a pond. At first she told me it was just a pond but upon further inspection its a very large pond - I havent taken exact measurements just yet but previous owner informs us its 6000 gallons give or take a few. It is VERY deep, i tried to touch the bottom with a stick other day (very professional haha, its fiberglass so I didnt damage anything!), the sitck was 2ft taller than me and only just touched the bottom! im 5ft7.

The previous owner of the home/pond had rented the home for 7 years and the tennants had mistreated and not looked after it (currently full of footballs and junk). I had him talk through everything with me today so far I know this

There are two main drains at the bottom of the pond.
They lead into what he calls the "Vortex" with a drain in bottom leading into the filtration
2 tanks, one with substrate and second with brushes etc
This leads into 4th tank where the pump takes it back into the pond

Each tank has a drain fitted which can be pulled to flush the contents for cleaning etc.

This is all fiberglassed just like the pond and is in very good condition.

Only issues are. Firstly I have zero clue about Koi ponds and filtration and secondly the tennants stole the pump to the pond!! Since the pond is half full of dirty water, kids toys and whatever else might be lurking in the depths we will need to empty the contents, fastest way I was told is to just flush contents using the pump then clean everything out before refilling.

My problem is I dont have a single clue which pump to get and the people i have talked to so far have thrown very high numbers at me in terms of price. I would like to get started on this pond and at least clean things up and get it all running so the garden looks nicer - either that or fill it in and I do not want to do that.

I have attached some photos, does anyone have any idea what sort of pump to recommend? If you need any more information I shall do my best

Look forward to hearing from you all, also hope to keep you all updated!

-Aden

 

[HTH]

Start by doing some serious archaeology. Clean it out to start with. Look for pipe inlet and outlets, existing piping etc There may be the remains of an old filter system under the deck..

 

[addy1]

Can you rent, buy or borrow a sump pump, one that handles dirty water i.e. water with junk in it. You could use that to pump out the pond. Clean the bottom get all the junk out.

Take pictures of what you find, like pipes filters etc, people here can help you figure out what you have and what will work to get it running again. That is a very nice pond I would not fill it in.

Welcome to our group too!

 

[sissy]

welcome and when they built that they sure went for an odd shape

 

[HTH]

I think it is the deck that makes it look unusual.

 

[adenphoto]

Start by doing some serious archaeology. Clean it out to start with. Look for pipe inlet and outlets, existing piping etc There may be the remains of an old filter system under the deck..

Ive gone through the piping and filter system as the decking comes up. I havent taken good photos just yet but as I saw the main chamber where pump is supposed to be located is flooded and all electrics need replacing (my friend is qualified electrician and said once its all cleaned he will sort that for me)

only pipe for obvious reasons I havent checked is the one leading from the 2 drains into the first stage of filtration.

i was told once the water is at the level marked on one of the rocks the pressure of the water will feed through the drains into the filtration tanks through force, it will also be level for the skimmer to work. Once water is in the first chamber it will go down through a piping system into second chamber underneath feeding upwards through the substrate/filtration? then an overflow will take it into 3rd chamber which is full of brushes currently. These are all currently empty due to the water level not being at correct height. After it feeds into the 3rd chamber it goes through into 4th where the pump is located to take it back into the pond or the waterfall - this is the part that is missing (chamber is there just not pump/uv).

It has a chamber seperate to the whole system where each compartment leads to, these are the drains with valves to turn to drain main compartments for cleaning.

I have a photo attached that shows the flooded compartment for electrics and pump, im going to install a drain into this part.

 

[koiguy1969]

looks kidney shaped to me, not too unusual . and a nice start for a sweet pond. doesnt look like it would be too much work to get it up and running.

 

[adenphoto]

Can you rent, buy or borrow a sump pump, one that handles dirty water i.e. water with junk in it. You could use that to pump out the pond. Clean the bottom get all the junk out.

Take pictures of what you find, like pipes filters etc, people here can help you figure out what you have and what will work to get it running again. That is a very nice pond I would not fill it in.

Welcome to our group too!

Hi Addy!

I have looked around but currently in my area I cant find any suitable - they are all too big and massively too expensive! some running into the thousands.

A friend recommended i buy the pump for the actual pond, put a filter on the end and lead the outake to a drain and get the level down to ankle height then bucket the rest of the clumpy water out. Running a net through it other day its not got so much lump/dirt bits just odd football and green water!

 

[HTH]

Take a 5 gallon pail and drill 1/2 holes all over it. The more the better. Put the pump in the bucket. The bucket will let water in but not anything larger then the pump can handle.

Harbor freight has a dirty water pump for under $100. Not sure where to find them in the UK.

You may also use a shop vac (we/dry vac) to suck up what the pump can't get.

Too bad there is not a valve to open and drain the thing.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forums! Looks like the pond has a lot of potential, especially now that it is in better care

 

[don't ask]

welcome,not sure products are available to you in England but i would start with googling for a replacement pump for the long haul... in the meantime, hth i feel is on the right track as for getting you going forward for now.. you could also check ebay for comparable pumps needed... is that pump well supposed to be wull with water, not sure by picture if they were using a submersible pump...if not get some holes in there so that water can not fill it again as we all know water and electricity do play nice together.. also if a solids pump is not easily accessible some shop vac can double as a low capacity pump but would take a long time to drain that

 

[JohnHuff]

Looks like that will be a great project!